The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 350
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 350
Episode 350.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
The Guild members advancing into C Zone as if preparing for war carried with them a persistent doubt.
“Is this really the right call?”
“Doesn’t it feel like overkill?”
“The Guild Master must want an overwhelming victory.”
“Even if we win like this, I don’t think we can upload it to MiTube. Not in good conscience.”
Gorden, the Guild Master, positioned himself toward the rear of the force.
He couldn’t have missed the discontent among his Guild members.
“Should I go back and explain again?”
“No. Forget it. They can’t be blamed for not understanding. Or maybe they don’t want to. Look at the troop numbers—over five hundred.”
The Guild members of Special Months had recruited through a rigorous testing system.
Beyond Level restrictions, they didn’t accept anyone whose character specs fell short of their standards.
Special Months was a gathering place for the strong alone.
Pride was all but inevitable.
“But when we meet him, you really plan to speak first?”
“I’ve told you. We ask politely first, that’s the protocol.”
Gorden gave much thought as he led the force forward.
His focus had fixed solely on the fact that Jin-woo had come here—he hadn’t even asked why.
“I need to ask why he came. We need to understand his reason. He might be here to obtain something.”
Gorden spoke.
“If we learn his reason, this might end peacefully. We give Jin-woo what he wants, and we don’t make him an enemy unnecessarily.”
The Vice Guild Master nodded at Gorden’s words.
This was the first time he’d seen the Guild Master exercise such caution.
Witnessing his efforts to avoid conflict, the Vice Guild Master’s thoughts shifted entirely. The fact that Gorden was being this careful could only mean one thing—Jin-woo truly was an unreasonable individual.
“I’ll relay it once more. Tell them to welcome him with absolute courtesy.”
“Right. If we start fighting without thinking, we’re in real trouble. If this can be resolved through words, fighting over it would be truly…….”
Gorden shook his head slowly.
“……we don’t know what might happen.”
* * *
Shrieeeeek—!
Gorden’s brow furrowed at the flames falling from the sky.
Dragon Breath.
With their superior numbers and full force deployed, blocking it proved not particularly difficult.
“……Damn.”
This made ending things through conversation harder.
“What do we do?”
The Vice Guild Master’s question gave the Guild Master a moment’s pause.
“Still, let’s try talking first. It could be just a greeting. Tell them to watch their words carefully.”
Because Gorden hailed from Eternal Sunshine, his understanding of Jin-woo was considerable.
“Understood. I’ll be polite.”
“It has to be polite. Really polite.”
At Gorden’s insistent emphasis, the Vice Guild Master asked again.
“Is there a particular reason?”
“Reason? He’s the kind of person who, when someone spoke without courtesy, moved his connections through equipment and simply destroyed a city.”
Which was precisely why politeness was essential.
“Understood. I’ll go back and relay it.”
“Vanguard, continue advancing!”
But before he could deliver the message, the vanguard and Jin-woo came within visual range of each other.
Thump-thump-thump—!
The Vanguard Commander encountered Jin-woo. The mechanical engineers stiffened entirely. Were they supposed to fight this massive force?
And it wasn’t merely numbers.
At the very front stood a Combat Mechanic with specs that bordered on absurd.
“All the Combat Mechanics we’ve seen until now…… weren’t complete versions!”
“The Magic Core…….”
Whoooosh—!
Fearsome steam vented with terrifying intensity.
The Mechanics that Special Months had brought were on an entirely different level from previous ones.
Moreover, the Mechanical Engineering equipment was also considerable.
“So they were hiding them…….”
They weren’t hidden.
They simply had no reason to use them against the Resistance.
There was no point deploying their true combat forces against a Resistance that lost even to Elima.
Jin-woo slowly stepped forward.
The Vanguard Commander facing him watched Jin-woo’s Combat Mechanics and Familiars with considerable wariness.
‘Different.’
The equipment Elima had worn was quite fine, but the gear these vanguard soldiers wore was far superior.
‘Special Months really does have an excellent Blacksmith.’
He’d thought the same when he saw the twin axes Elima carried, but observing this vanguard’s equipment only deepened his conviction.
They appeared to be craftspeople easily ranking above the top fifty.
‘High-tier craftsmen’s equipment always lifts my spirits.’
During his previous exchange with October, Jin-woo had also savored quite a feast for the eyes.
Superior equipment always inspired him.
“So it really is Jin-woo?”
“We saw him on JinTube.”
“Really has guts, at least.”
“Coming alone like this!”
“We know he’s a Necromancer. But we also know he doesn’t have that many Familiars.”
The vanguard squad regarded Jin-woo with what could only be described as absurdity.
Jin-woo truly had come alone.
With merely a handful of Familiars, he was attempting to face off against Special Months’ full strength.
There was considerable information about Jin-woo on MiTube.
It had spread through streaming services and could be verified on JinTube.
“You’re Jin-woo?”
The Vanguard Commander asked, looking at him.
“Your words are rather short, aren’t they?”
Jin-woo responded, though more precisely, he was examining the equipment the commander wore.
‘Good armor design.’
His weapon was a massive staff.
‘Good heft to it, too.’
At Jin-woo’s words, the Vanguard Commander’s eyebrow twitched.
“Why would an intruder deserve politeness? The Guild Master is curious. Tell us plainly—what’s your reason for being here.”
In truth, this could be considered quite respectful.
After all, Jin-woo had launched Breath attacks through his Familiar the moment they laid eyes on each other.
“Plainly?”
Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
“If you want to hear why I came, have your Guild Master come himself.”
Jin-woo smirked.
“And another thing.”
He glanced toward the rear.
“With only this much, why would I need to come alone?”
That fierce provocation cost the vanguard squad their composure.
The situation was already frustrating; having his words light the fire made them feel almost grateful.
“That was plenty polite.”
“Listen up!”
“He came alone!”
“He launched Breath at us, so shouldn’t we return the favor?”
One hundred Guild members from the vanguard squad drew weapons simultaneously.
Clang—!
The sound carried considerable menace.
The vanguard of Special Months consisted entirely of elite fighters.
Non-combat classes and mages were held in reserve with the main force, so this vanguard comprised only those obsessed with combat alone.
In other words, combat specialists—and only combat specialists—had their weapons trained on Jin-woo and his Familiars.
Crash—.
One moment before combat ignited, Special Months Guild making their first move—
Snap—!
Jin-woo snapped his fingers.
First and Pur shot forward at tremendous speed.
Boom—!
While attention fixed on First and Pur—
Whoosh—.
Speed, using the two Familiars as bait, struck in an instant.
Crack—!
Zzzzzzzzzzt—!
Lightning crackled as a Dagger scattered electricity everywhere.
“!”
“What—!”
“Couldn’t even see it—!”
While their focus was on Speed, First and Pur reached them.
Crash-crash-crash—!
Pur delivered a crushing blow, and First seized that opening to cleanly slice through those at the front.
Slash-slice! Slash-slice!
Ting—! Ting—! Ting—!
-Critical damage received!
-Critical damage received!
-Vision blocked.
-Body paralyzed.
-Intense cold surrounds you!
Numerous Status Ailments.
The vanguard squad panicked at the sudden burst of attacks.
“Agh!”
“We’re losing formation!”
“Brace!”
The vanguard, unable to process First and Pur’s assault, quickly reformed.
Crash-crash-crash—!
After blocking Pur’s heavy strike, they immediately counterattacked.
Boom—!
Whoosh—. Whoooosh—!
They wielded Engineering Hammers, unlike Pur.
Venting steam, they attempted to crush Pur outright. Pur didn’t dodge.
Shhhh—.
Releasing cold air while bracing for impact. Dodging was not an option. To use the War Hammer properly, timing was everything.
To seize that timing, attack had to follow impact itself.
Shrieeek—!
Boom—!
The Engineering Hammer struck Pur directly. His body recoiled slightly. It was that forceful a blow. Yet the Special Months Guild members frowned—they’d expected Pur to be driven back far more.
“The impact…….”
The feedback was completely absent.
“Insane.”
They realized it immediately. The Armor Pur wore.
That Armor had absorbed the damage entirely.
Boom—!
The cost of failing to drive Pur back in one blow was severe.
-Critical damage received!
-HP rapidly decreasing.
-Defeated.
One member of the vanguard fell.
What they’d experienced firsthand from Jin-woo’s Familiars surpassed imagination. The vanguard abandoned their initial underestimation.
Then, from the sky, the Familiar began spraying Breath attack indiscriminately.
Whoooosh—!
Though it was Breath filled with toxin, the vanguard squad each activated their Accessories.
-Toxin purified.
-Toxin neutralized.
The toxic Breath was purified and neutralized, its effect weakened.
But at that precise moment, Fin moved.
Slip—!
Shrieeek—!
Fin, who’d been waiting in the shadow of the aerial Familiar, charged directly at the Guild members.
“This insane—!”
A Guild member raised a Shield to block, but it—and he—flew back hard.
Whoosh—!
Centered on the airborne Guild member, a tremendous force erupted.
“Gather.”
Floating—.
Moltus, hidden behind Fin and the aerial Familiar, began drawing the Guild members together through intense Telekinesis.
“Gahhhh—!”
“Don’t look at the sky!”
“There are two fast Familiars!”
“Block them! We have to block them!”
And using those aerial Familiars as bait, Speed and the rest ran wild.
Tiger was known from intel, but Speed was not.
“Focus! This Jin-woo isn’t the one we knew from MiTube!”
“The intel is different!”
“Damn it. Don’t let your guard down!”
The Vanguard Commander ground his teeth and shouted.
“And yet we let our guard down.”
Jin-woo observed him with a sneer.
“Target Jin-woo! If we can just cut him down, we win! Ignore the Familiars—!”
Slash-crack—!
The Eternal Cycle Sword that First wielded cut through those Guild members who’d rushed at Jin-woo.
“Ugh!”
“One strike…… no, how is it one strike—!”
The blow had been so devastating that the Guild member in front was left with less than ten percent HP remaining, his vision spinning badly.
“We can’t attack the main body this way.”
“Press with numbers!”
“Combat Mechanics!”
At that moment, the Combat Mechanics they’d brought began pouring out recklessly.
“Attack Jin-woo!”
When ordered, they executed the order. They gave no thought to whether they’d be damaged or immobilized in the process.
Whoosh—! Whoooosh—!
Countless Combat Mechanics descended in a frenzy of steam. Meanwhile, the Guild members withdrew.
Combat Mechanics could attack their target regardless of obstacles, but they had a pattern of attacking allies as well, so fighting alongside them incurred significant losses.
“We regroup!”
The Guild members who’d taken hits from Jin-woo’s Familiars needed to reorganize. They’d been careless. Jin-woo was genuinely strong.
“Stronger than expected. But…….”
The Vanguard Commander looked at Jin-woo.
“We can manage this!”
The Combat Mechanics possessed multiple patterns.
“We can wear him down significantly.”
Using those combat patterns, they could diminish Jin-woo’s fighting capacity.
They could easily sacrifice a few Familiars to start.
“If we just suppress First and Pur—his one-two punch—we’re done.”
They knew Jin-woo’s strongest Familiars very well.
Crash-crash-crash—!
A charging Combat Mechanic descended on First and Pur.
Bang—!
“Huh.”
Jin-woo could observe the Combat Mechanic in detail from behind.
‘Interesting modifications.’
The Magic Core at its center had been deliberately destabilized.
‘They made an already unstable Magic Core even more unstable.’
This wasn’t merely to increase output.
‘There’s another design consideration here.’
Jin-woo smirked.
‘Self-destruct.’
A frenzied output to pressure the opponent relentlessly, then detonation.
‘Excellent tuning.’
Jin-woo was quite curious who’d implemented such an audacious approach.
‘Probably Special Months’ Blacksmith? They have considerable Mechanical Engineering expertise. They likely tried to maximize Magic Core theory.’
Jin-woo found the reasoning behind that choice quite appealing.
‘Pushing Mechanical Engineering to its absolute limit.’
That’s what made a true Blacksmith.
Crack—! Slice—!
First and Pur continued slicing through the Combat Mechanic.
“Fall back.”
Now that he understood their objective, there was only one thing left to do.
First and Pur withdrew without question.
“Stand by my side.”
They moved to flank him.
“When I signal, handle the cleanup.”
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
Beep—! Beep-beep—!
The Combat Mechanic suddenly rushed Jin-woo. With First and Pur stepping aside, it apparently saw its chance.
Their target was Jin-woo alone.
With First and Pur out of the way, the mission could be accomplished!
The Vanguard Commander watching froze in surprise.
Then he smiled.
Jin-woo had just made a critical error. He appeared to be vastly underestimating them.
“Perfect!”
He immediately barked a command at the Combat Mechanic.
“JP-1!”
Protocol JP-1.
Following the Vanguard Commander’s order, all Combat Mechanics shifted into JP-1 mode.
Thump—.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—!
Massive steam vented from the Combat Mechanics.
And in that moment—
Beep—.
“?”
The Combat Mechanic at the front collapsed.
“What—……?”
To be precise—
“It’s been…… disassembled……?”
It had been disassembled.
A Universal Spanner was in Jin-woo’s one hand, a Hammer in the other.
“This is impossible…….”
“Did he just…… disassemble it? The Combat Mechanic?”
Question marks floated in the eyes of the vanguard Guild members.
The same went for Baxter and Tabuk beside them, as well as the mechanical engineers.
“……Can you even do that?”
……
Something impossible had occurred—shocking even their own forces.
‘This works.’
Only Jin-woo was smiling.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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